What percentage of pilots fly Mode 1 in the UK?

[AVC]

That’s interesting, Martyn. A friend of mine which used to fly just 3D, learnt to fly with a Graupner in mode 1 (he was the only in the club in that mode, so he had to learn on his own). He mentioned in one occasion that a rolling harrier, and also other manoeuvres implying slow rolling, were easier in Mode 1, for the exact reason that you have described

[gangster]

Wow doesn’t time fly. Didn’t realise it was time for that tired old debate to come round again

[Shaun Walsh]

I learned to fly in the early 70s in mode 1, there were one or two mode 2 flyers but they were regarded as "cack-handed". At the time, buddy boxes were a few years in the future and learners were taught using the "panic and pass" protocol.

I recently returned to the hobby to find that 90% of the flyers in both local clubs were flying mode 2 including the club instructor so I am currently undergoing a conversion course, a bit like converting from CofE to RC, the basics are the same but the ceremonies are a bit different .

Not finding it too difficult at the moment, probably helped by the fact that I started flying micro helicopters indoors where mode 2 does make more sense IMHO.

Personally you pays your money and takes your pick, it's just easier to run with the pack at times, the important thing is to enjoy it.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Lone_Wolf]

I'd say 95% of my club is mode 1. We are based in Essex. When I joined I was told we fly mode 1 here and having no opinion on the mater myself I said OK fine and was taught mode 1.

I watched a interview with Hanno Prettner the other day and he was talking about why he felt mode 1 was good for aerobatics.

[David Davis]

Posted by Tom Sharp 2 on 04/07/2018 13:19:13:

Question for David Davis, what is French for Mode 1 ?

The French for Mode 1 is "Mode Un" and the French for Mode 2 is "Mode Deux."

When I first joined the club we had about eighteen members. Now we have about thirty and most of the new members are novices so there is quite a demand for instructors. Of the thirty members only two of us fly Mode 2 and the other one is a very opinionated person, a real blowhard, who is not very popular! Another Mode 2 flyer turns up occasionally. He lives in the south of France and he flies on our site when he's in the area visiting his father but technically he's not a member of the club. He learned to fly in Switzerland.

My original question was not to provoke a debate about which of the two commonly used modes is better but to be able to answer my trainee's question more accurately. I understand the logic of Mode 1 being better for roll manouevres but I don't think that any of us established Mode 2 flyers are going to change. I'm not good enough to be in the running for either nation's national championship anyway!

[Peter Miller]

We have 16 members. Only one flies mode 1

I taught myself to fly back in about 1974 along with one or two others,

I will change when forward and aft movement of the stick controls the throttle on full size aircraft

Edited By Peter Miller on 05/07/2018 08:19:01

[pete taylor]

Posted by Peter Miller on 05/07/2018 08:16:12:

We have 16 members. Only one flies mode 1

I taught myself to fly back in about 1974 along with one or two others,

I will change when forward and aft movement of the stick controls the throttle on full size aircraft

Edited By Peter Miller on 05/07/2018 08:19:01

I am that man!

You outed me first Dusty!!

[J D 8]

Hi David, Your friend has already started on mode 2 with you so I think changing mode now would not be a good idea.

With modern radios the instructor can be on one mode with the master TX and the pupil on another mode on the buddy lead slave set. This works well in our club. Cheers John.

[pete taylor]

Posted by J D 8 on 05/07/2018 08:45:51:

Hi David, Your friend has already started on mode 2 with you so I think changing mode now would not be a good idea.

With modern radios the instructor can be on one mode with the master TX and the pupil on another mode on the buddy lead slave set. This works well in our club. Cheers John.

I can attest to that.

Many years ago, in the interests of compatibility with other club members (not my current club, I hasten to add; they're a very broad church) I swapped to mode 2.

All was fine until anything requiring a very rapid response happened, at which point my brain either went into mode 1 mode, or paralysed in a state of cognitive dissonance with inevitable results!

Mode 2 was at this point abandoned and I've been flying the right mode ever since

[David Davis]

Posted by J D 8 on 05/07/2018 08:45:51:

Hi David, Your friend has already started on mode 2 with you so I think changing mode now would not be a good idea.

With modern radios the instructor can be on one mode with the master TX and the pupil on another mode on the buddy lead slave set. This works well in our club. Cheers John.

John, my friend has started on Mode 1, not Mode 2, as I said in the OP, so that he can fly with a French instructor on the club's equipment if I am not at the flying field.

[Peter Miller]

Posted by pete taylor on 05/07/2018 08:43:25:

Posted by Peter Miller on 05/07/2018 08:16:12:

We have 16 members. Only one flies mode 1

I taught myself to fly back in about 1974 along with one or two others,

I will change when forward and aft movement of the stick controls the throttle on full size aircraft

Edited By Peter Miller on 05/07/2018 08:19:01

I am that man!

You outed me first Dusty!!

Well Pete at least no one can fly your models. Pity that you can't fly ours.

[eflightray]

I have always flown mode 2, which probably stems from my single channel galloping ghost days, where I had a Tx with a joystick. Turns have always been using my right thumb.

Was wondering if being left or right handed made any difference ?. Though many people now are probably taught by someone who has already using a specific mode, so they don't really have a choice.

Ray.

P.S. I'm right handed.

Edited By eflightray on 05/07/2018 11:01:54

[The Wright Stuff]

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 04/07/2018 10:36:50

One thing I would add - there is no "right mode" - let's not get into that sterile pointless argument, we have been there too many times in the passed. The "right mode" is the one you feel happiest with, full stop.

BEB

I'll tread delicately here, because I, too have no desire to get into the same old argument, but I would suggest that 'feel happiest with' presumes people have tried both modes, and then chosen their favourite. In reality, I suspect the 'right mode' for most forum members will be the one they currently use, having never changed.

I wonder how many people have actually tried both modes for themselves (and by 'tried', I mean properly persevered for a number of complete flights). It occurs to me that in today's world of simulators, self-adjustable transmitters, and non-specific buddy leads, changing modes ought to be easier than ever before...

If it's true that these factors have made it less important that mentor and trainee share the same mode, then we ought to see a change in behaviour in the statistics, sooner or later.

[Bob Cotsford]

When I was in my twenties (yes, ok, it was in the last century ) I could fly either mode quite well, I could also ride Jap or Brit motorbikes, BSA or Triumph shift, left or right gear change, without messing up too many gear shifts. Nowadays I have trouble coordinating two stick units regardless of which way round they work. I think it's an age thing rather than the fact that modern yoof has been brought up with computers. I flew both modes and chose to concentrate on mode 2 long ago, I have flown a mates mode 1 model recently and I found it quite scary!

[Callsign Tarnish]

What percentage of pilots fly Mode 1 in the UK?

The best percentage.

[J D 8]

Hi David, I misunderstood the op and think he should stay on mode one having started there but you to could help him learn with suitable radio system and have the best of both. John.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Posted by Callsign Tarnish on 05/07/2018 12:35:21:

What percentage of pilots fly Mode 1 in the UK?

The best percentage.

Here we go again...

[David Davis]

Posted by J D 8 on 05/07/2018 12:44:47:

Hi David, I misunderstood the op and think he should stay on mode one having started there but you to could help him learn with suitable radio system and have the best of both. John.

Hi John

I have a Spektrum DX9 Mode 2 transmitter. I also have a Spektrum DX6i transmitter also Mode 2 which was my previous transmitter. I have custody of a Spektrum DX 5e Mode 1 transmitter which belonged to a club member who died. Having the three transmitters means that I can teach a beginner either on Mode 1 or on Mode 2.

Andy is learning to fly Mode 1 on the DX5e and intends to buy a Spektrum radio to go with a "We Can Fly" trainer so that I can hold his hand until he can fly unsupervised. **LINK**

Meanwhile he will continue to fly my trainers. I own a Junior 60 and a Boomerang 2 and I have access to another four-channel trainer called a Primary 40 and to an Eflite Radian electric powered glider. I use any one of these four models as the occasion requires.

If I am not available he could fly a club trainer with one of the French instructors. The club owns two or three Arising Stars powered by OS 46 AX engines and guided by Futaba equipment .

[J D 8]

Sounds good, he should soon be solo with all your and others help.Cheers John.

[David Davis]

I have a funny story to relate about Modes. About five years ago when I was still living in England I turned up at my club and there was a young man, ok a man of about forty, standing all by himself. No-one was talking to him so I went up to him and introduced myself. He explained that he used to fly in the Eighties and was just returning to the hobby. He asked me whether I'd be prepared to test-fly his model for him. I readily agreed.

He had built a WOT 4 Mark 3, the type with the tapered wing, he had fitted a second hand Thunder Tiger Pro 40 or 46 and had bought an old Futaba Challenger radio. He'd made a lovely job of the WOT 4 finished all over in a dark red film. He started the engine by hand and without any further adjustment the motor ran perfectly. I thought, "This lad knows what he's doing!"

Having carried out a range check, and with everything functioning perfectly, I took off. The model flew beautifully, I don't think I even had to touch the trims. After a left and right-hand circuit, a horizontal eight, a loop and rolls in both directions, I said, "She's beautiful!" and with the wings level and the model high up and headed into wind, I handed him the transmitter with the advice to try a left-hand circuit to begin with.

The circuit was a bit ragged and he'd lost a fair bit of height at the end of it but as he had not flown for twenty years I was expecting this. I advised another circuit, this time he'd lost even more height. I can't remember whether I took back the transmitter or whether I asked him to gain some altitude before he tried another cicuit but whichever way it was, the next circuit was as bad as the first two. Then it dawned on me! "Did you used to fly Mode 1?" I asked, "Yes," he replied. He'd been reducing the engine speed on each turn, no wonder the model kept losing height!

I asked for the transmitter and landed the model. Someone had donated to the club a simple Futaba Field Force 4 transmitter which looked new and unused. This had languished in Trainer's Corner for years but the club's trainers were on 2.4 GHz. No crystal or battery but we removed the ones from the lad's transmitter and I checked that the Field Force Four worked before asking for an experienced Mode 1 pilot to help him.

Somebody obliged and I'm not going to say that it all came flooding back for him straight away because it didn't but eventually, with the help of my Mode 1 colleagues, it did. I believe that the lad went on to the committee later on.

Edited By David Davis on 05/07/2018 17:30:49

[eflightray]

According to a slightly out of date Swansea model flying club web site (2012), --

" The majority of club members and instructors fly Mode 4 "

So it may not be as simple as Mode 1 or 2 .

.

[David Davis]

I believe that most of the Sleap Club used to fly some strange mode at one time, but 98% of us are either Mode 1 or Mode 2 these days.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Peter Christy]

There was a lad I knew a while ago who flew aeroplanes in mode 1 and helicopters in mode 2 - and he was pretty good with both!

He gave up models and took up full size, becoming a very proficient aerobatic pilot in a Christen Eagle. I never did get to ask him how he found the conversion from mode 1 to mode 2 with aeroplanes.........

--

Pete